Floating partition



c. FlDAVIS 2,105,588 FLOATING PARTITioN Original Filed April 29, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 18, 1938.

BY Mm ATTORNEY.

Jan. 18, 1938. c. F. DAVIS FLOATING PARTITION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 OriginalFiled April 29, 1933 r, 7/ ATTORNEY.

Fatentecl Jan. 18, 1938 UNHTED STATES PATENT QFFIQE FLOATING PARTITIONware Application April 29, 1933, Serial No. 668,490 Renewed August 3,1937 4 Claims.

This invention relates to a floating wall or partition, that is, a wallnot rigidly connected to other walls and/or a ceiling and/or a floor,but on the contrary one in which slight relative 5 movement between theWall and one or more surfaces adjacent thereto is permitted.

Experience has demonstrated that with modern buildings, storms involvingwind pressures set up vibration which is transmitted to all parts of thestructure. This is true likewise in buildings having moving machinery orlocated above subways, train sheds or the like. As a result of thisvibration, walls or partitions rigidly attached to the building walls orattached to other walls which are in turn rigidly attached to thebuilding walls, receive this vibration, and are subjected to stress andunequal distortion. Consequently such walls have a tendency to crack andthis may even go so far as to destroy the wall itself. v

The principal object of the invention, therefore, is the provision of avertical wall which will have a connection to other walls or surfaces ofsuch a character as will permit relative movement therebetween so thatin the event of building vibration or in the event of movement of therigid walls and/or floor and/or ceiling of such building. the floatingwall or partition will not be subject to these stresses with resultantcrackmg or destruction.

The invention is not particularly concerned with the material of whichthe wall or partition is made. This may be of metal or wood lath coveredwith plaster, partition tile of gypsum or the like. wall board. gypsumlumber or Plank or in'fact any material which is subject to crackingeither between the joints of the individual structural elements of whichthe wall is made, or otherwise. 7

A preferred embodiment of the invention consists in the use of angleirons or the like between the rigid wall and/or floor and/or ceiling andthe floating wall or partition. It is desirable, of course. that onedimension of the floating wall be rigidly attached to something. andthis rigid dimension is usually the floor, that is, the floating wall orpartition may be rigidly connected to the floor of the room. The sidesand top of such wall or partition are preferably enclosed between suchangle irons, which in turn are rigidly attached to rigid walls and/orthe ceiling, the sides and top of the floating wall or partition beingspaced from the other walls. This permits of a sliding movement betweenthe floating wall and the rigid walls so that in case of buildingvibrations or other stress this movement will not transform itself intoa distorting or disrupting force with relation to the floating wall.

The invention further contemplates that the floating wall shall beresiliently supported on the floor or the like to permit dissipation ofany shocks which might otherwise be transmitted to the wall.

The invention further contemplates the use of decorative molding orangle irons which will to 10 a great extent serve to mask theirotherwise apparent purpose.

The invention further consists in the novel arrangement, combination andconstruction of parts more fully hereinafter described and shown in thedrawings.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a floating wallattached to rigid walls.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the floating wall of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of a floating partition.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation partly in section showing one method oflocking a floating wall into position.

Fig. 5 is a side view showing acompleted wall prior to the applicationof a finished material.

Referring now with particularity to the drawings and with reference toFig. 3, the usual verti- 30 cal columns of a building are shown at lencased in the usual plaster 2 or the like, between which a wall 3extends.

These walls for the purpose of illustration may consist of elongatedprecast slabs of gypsum or the like 5, the opposite edges of which areprovided with metal members 6 and 1 respectively, tongued and grooved toprovide a mating interlock.- This material is known in the trade asGypsum Plank. This construction material is made in varying lengths andmay be out, sawed and spliced together to fit any desired space. Asshown in Fig. 5, it is desirable that the horizontal joints betweenunits be staggered with regard to each other, that is, that thehorizontal joints between adjacent rows of units be out of register witheach other. This makes for a stronger construction. While this form ofmaterial is shown as constituting a wall, yet obviously the invention isnot limited thereto as any desired material may be used.

It will be apparent that the columns I and their encasing material 2constitute the rigid portion of the building which will sway with thebuilding. It is desirable according to this invention to permit relativemovement between the wall 3 and the encasing material 2 of the columns.For this purpose angle irons 8 are provided on each side of the wall 3rigidly attached to the encasing material 2 but only frictionallyengaging in a sliding joint the wall 3. It is to be noted that the endof the wall 3 is spaced from the encasing material 2 so that in case ofmovement the wall may accommodate itself between the enclosed portionsof the angle irons B and with relative movement to them and to theencasing material or the column as the case may be.

Reference to Fig. 4 will show that the wall 3 is supported in a saddle 9having lower flanges I0 secured to the floor of the building as at II.This saddle construction may be hollow to take electrical conduits 12,water pipes or the like, and may be provided at intervals withelectrical outlets as desired, or may be entirely omitted if desired.The construction of this saddle per se forms no part of the presentinvention.

It is desirable that this saddle be provided with upwardly projectingwalls 13 between which a base I4 is situated which carries a substantiallayer of resilient material l5. This may be of a fibrous or rubberynature and in fact of any material which will readily support the weightof the wall 3 in a resilient manner.

As thus described the wall-3 is 'to all intents and purposes rigidlyattached to the floor although resiliently supported thereon. When thewall 3 is swung into the position shown in the dotted lines and againstangle. iron l6 attached to the ceiling H, a second angle iron I8 isaffixed to the ceiling, the irons l6 and I8 holding the top of the wall3 in a floating manner between the two. It is to be noted that the topof the wall 3 terminates short of the ceiling ll so as to permitrelative movement therebetween without disruption of the wall.

As shown in Fig. 4, the irons l6 and i8 may be of an ornamental natureand provided with a portion I9 which may be used as a picture molding orthe like. This overcomes any tendency of the use of such angle irons todestroy the aesthetic effect in rooms in Which they'occur.

As shown. in Fig. 2 the saddle 9 may take various forms and anothermodification is illustrated there conforming substantially to theprinciple recited in connection with Fig; 4.

In Fig. 2 a modified form of angle iron for retaining the top of thewall 3 in place is shown to consist of a single piece of metal 20 havingdeformed downwardly projecting portions 2| between which the wall 3 issecured and outwardly projecting flanges 22 secured to the ceiling as bynails 23. Such a retaining means'is placed upon the wall beforeerection, the wall pushed into place and then the nails'23 driven intothe ceiling.

A completed section of joining walls is shown in Fig. 1, which isthought to be self-explanatory. Referring again to Fig. 3, it will beobvious, of

7 course, that such floating walls may extend between rigid walls orparts of walls or a partition or wall may extend from a floatingpartition to another rigid wall or another floating partition, allwithin the scope of the invention.

While the invention has been shown and described with particularreference to certain instrumentalities, yet it is to be understood thatthe invention is not to be limited thereto but is to be restricted onlyby the scope of the claims.

'I claim:

1. In combination, a floating wall extending between two side walls, aceiling and a floor, said wall being removably held by retaining meansrigidly connected to said floor, retaining means rigidly secured to theside walls and the ceiling, the retaining means slidingly engaging thefloating wall, said floating wall consisting of individual buildingunits, some of which'are of less height than the height of the floatingwall and interlocked together along their vertical edges by meansoftongues and grooves, the horizontal joints between adjacent unitsbeing out of register;

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the tongues and grooves of theindividual units are of metal.

3. In combination, a floating wall extending between two side walls, afloor and a ceiling, retaining means rigidlyflxed to the side walls/andextending a substantial distance there along, re-

taining means engaging said floor, said floating well being carried bysaid means, retaining means between said ceiling and said floating wall,said floating wall being spaced from the side walls and ceiling, wherebysaid wall'is permitted movement relative tothe side walls, floor andceiling by sliding within the retaining means in which the wall consistsof individual building units tongued and grooved together along theiradjacent vertical edges.

4. In combination, a floating wall extending between two vertical planesurfaces and two horizontal plane surfaces, all substantially at rightangles to the plane of the wall, the wall terminating short of and beingrelatively movable with respect to three of said-plane surfaces,retaining means attached to three of said planes, the wall slidinglyengaging said means, said wall consisting of individual unitsinterlocked together along their vertical edges by means of tongues andgrooves, so that when the four planes are distorted with relationto'each other, the distortion will not be communicated to the floatingwall by reason of the sliding engagement between the wall and theretainingmeans.

CLARKE F. DAVIS.

